MP3 Player Articles

The Macworld show floor can induce deja vu for habitual attendees. From a hardware perspective, often it's the same vendors offering the same products, with slight variations from year to year. Despite the gloomy economic outlook, however, I found a surprising amount of new products on the show floor (or, at least new to me). Here are the highlights.

Shure unveiled its new SE115 line of in-ear headphones today at Macworld 2009. Aside from being colorful (offered in red, blue, or pink), the SE115 share the same design as the SE110 headphones we reviewed last year, with the exception of the audio-driver technology, which has changed from a balanced armature driver to a dynamic driver.

Shure was nice enough to let me try on a pair, and the sound was undeniably beefier than I recall hearing on the SE110 but a bit lacking in the crispness associated with the balanced armature driver found in its predecessor. I only listened … Read more

Taking a page from the boombox trend of the 1980s, iPod-docking alarm clocks are taking on an absurd amount of features in an effort to stand out from the herd. Case in point: the iLuv iMM183, a dual-dock alarm clock capable of charging two iPhones or iPods. This little bedside beauty comes with a remote control, FM radio, EQ control, aux input, and last but not least--an NOAA emergency alert system with localized weather warnings.

Aside from the emergency/weather alert display, you're basically looking at the same iLuv iMM173 we saw last year. Still, the list of … Read more

'Tis the season to give, but with the current economic crunch affecting all of our pocketbooks, you may find yourself too cash-strapped to go all out on electronic gadgetry. But that doesn't mean you have to shy away from tech gifting. MP3 player accessories make great gifts and the majority of them aren't going to cost you an arm and a leg. In fact, you can find some cases on Amazon for less than two bucks!

If you have a SanDisk Sansa owner in your family, you've come to the right place. We've rounded up a … Read more

Fashion-forward designs have recently been making quite a bit of headway in the headphone space. It doesn't take much effort to find a pair that matches your MP3 player or can be coordinated by outfit, although manufacturers with true eye for design take things a step further. Take Monster Cable's Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones, a super stylish set of cans announced at CES 2008. The company is now adding to the fashionable line with the Tour In-Ear Headphones, an ultraportable set that sports the signature red and black coloring. This $150 pair once again proves that hip … Read more

You may have heard: companies are dropping like flies when it comes to exhibiting at CES 2009. Philips is one of the casualties and has instead elected to announce a grip of gadgets for next year before 2008 has even come to a close. Among the products are several rather slick-looking iPod docking stations with integrated speakers and precious few new features. Sure, one has HD Radio and another integrated Bluetooth, but neither functionality is shockingly innovative. Still, the look of all six systems ain't half bad. You can find more information on the SBD7000, SBD8100, DC315, DC350, DCM250, … Read more

The holidays are here again, meaning it's the perfect time to shower your MP3 player with gifts--accessories, to be exact. And while we're getting specific, let's focus on one particular family of players: the Creative Zen. The iPod gets plenty of love in the portable audio accessory space, but it's not the only device that has products made specifically with it in mind.

The Creative Zen Stone, the Mozaic, the X-Fi, and the plain ol' Zen all have a gaggle of gear fine-tuned to fit. But since I know you have enough on your plate without … Read more

You don't see many iPod video docks these days--and for good reason. Starting in 2007, Apple locked down video accessory support for the iPod, while simultaneously releasing a product that made such accessories arguably obsolete: the Apple TV.

Even in their heyday, iPod video accessories have always been a tough sell due to the inherent limitations of iPod video resolution. The boom in high-definition TV sales over the past few years hasn't helped the cause either. Upscaled or not, who wants to watch the iPod's default 320x240 video resolution on their 40-inch plasma TV?

DLO's HomeDock HD … Read more

Part of the reason the iPod has been so successful is that compatible content is so simple to acquire--and there's plenty of it. Now, the iRecord Pro, a simple one-touch personal media recorder, makes content even easier to get. And the beauty of it is that it's not only for the iPod, you can also record directly to the Sony Walkman, the Sony PSP, and other devices.

Unfortunately, the iRecord Pro is way overpriced at $259, and while it will save you money on content in the long run, the fact that it's crippled by its lack … Read more